Please respect the fact that this is a humble attempt from my side to record some recipes, handed over to my family through grandmas & great-grandmas and also share some favourite dishes of my family, including the one I married into. All the content in this blog (text and photographs) are mine, unless noted otherwise. Copying, re-writing, republishing, redistributing or altering any text or photograph or part of the text, for any commercial or non-commercial purposes, without my written consent is strictly prohibited. Users with non-commercial purposes may link to the page or a specific post, but not allowed to reproduce or alter the content( text and photographs) without prior written permission. Please ASK first at shncjj@gmail.com. Kindly use comments section for any recipe clarifications and e-mails will not be entertained in this regard.

Zaarga - a destination for the most beautiful home, lifestyle and fashion accessories by Indian Designers. Buy this 'Banana Leaf Bowl' by Tejas Soni at Zaarga.

HandPicked collection of Authentic Indian Crafts!

Sunday, February 4, 2007

It’s that time of the year again when we all search for those pretty cards, candied hearts, chocolate dipped strawberries, cute teddy bears and radiant red roses to celebrate love and friendship with our dear ones. Yes, Valentine’s Day is just two weeks away and I see lots of pink, red and white wherever I turn. This year, why don’t we Say It with Shortbread Hearts? Shortbreads, a Scottish favorite are “the ultimate expression of the four building blocks of baking: butter, sugar, flour and salt.” But modern cooks have come up with lots of variations by adding nuts, chocolates or any other dried fruits as well as cutting them differently. If it is yet to strike you, this is an EGGLESS recipe!! I found this recipe on Martha Stewart’s LIVING beautifully cut using heart shaped cookie cutters. So dear friends, let’s hit the baking corner and serve our Valentine’s with some extra love :)

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour/maida

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup finely chopped dried cranberries or cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325° with the rack in center. With a hand mixer, combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, flour, and salt,(all at the same time) in a bowl, until it’s just incorporated; not too creamy. Stir in dried cranberries/cherries or fruit of your choice.

Grease an 8 or 9 inch-square baking pan with butter and flour and pat dough firmly into the pan and bake until just beginning to turn golden. Though the original recipe calls for only 20 min, it took 50 min for me. Cool on a wire rack and unmold the Shortbread and transfer to a work surface. Do not cut if it's still warm and wait till it’s completely cool. Use a heart cookie cutter to cut out cookies and keep them at room temperature in an airtight container.

Tricks I learnt!

This was the first time I tried a Shortbread recipe and hence I did some reading before hitting the baking corner. Here are some tips: After transferring the dough into the baking pan, cover it with a plastic wrap, so it doesn’t stick to hands while pressing into a uniform thickness and before sliding the dough into the oven, prick all over with a wooden skewer. Experts do not suggest the use of forks, as its tines will pull at the dough. The holes keep the surface level and promote even baking. It’s also suggested not to substitute confectioner’s sugar with granulated sugar, to avoid grainy cookies. Please note that the original recipe calls for only 20 min baking time but it took 50 min for me. So it's better to keep in mind the variations of the oven settings. Bake until golden colour and firm in center.

You can either use cookie cutters or simply cut them into rounds or squares when it’s completely cool. I noticed that the flavour improves after a few days.

Perfect for V-day...Looks pretty and delicious..BTW you can call me mahi,mahesh and macchu...funny isn't it..too many nick names..nobody close to me call me maheswari..like you ,they think it is a pretty long name..:))

Thanks for visiting my blog. I will be soon adding you to my blogroll. I love your shortbread recipe too. Can I substitute cranberries/cherries with some other dry fruit? I am not a great fan of either of them.

Heart-shaped Shortbread looks delicious and very tempting too. I'm gonna try this one out tommorrow as I don't have the dried berries right now. Anyways, will let you know how it turned out for me. Thanks for sharing such nice recipes. Looking forward for more:)

great recipe....gonna have to find someoneto bake for me...thing is...I have a love-hate relationship with my oven...we simply don't see things eye to eye... we avoid each other as much as we can...~grin~...thanks for sharing